Cash shortage to continue for 4 to 5 months: BEFI

Kolkata, Nov 24 (PTI) The Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI)
today said currency note shortage will continue for another four to five
months even if the country’s all four currency press facilities work at
optimum capacity.
According to them, the cash scarcity spilling over to next week will
make people more impatient when receiving and withdrawing salary
will become difficult.
“Cash shortage will continue even if the four currency note printing
presses run at their optimum capacity. It will take four to five months
to restore normalcy in cash supply,” bank employees’ union BEFI
general secretary P K Biswas said here.
Biswas alleged that some customers have vandalised bank property in
some of branches of public sector banks and halted banking
operations due to cash shortage post-demonetisation.
As on March this year, there were 15,707 million pieces of old Rs 500
notes and 6,326 million pieces of Rs 1,000 notes in circulation, the
union said.
The situation “can turn worse” in a week or so if the customers face
difficulties in withdrawing their salaries from banks and ATMs, BEFI
said.
It said printing ink and dice for new denomination notes have reached
the Salboni printing facility in West Bengal, but when the actual
printing will start is yet to be known.